FACTORS AFFECTING SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNING

We will see whether anecdotal evidence is supported by research findings

Characteristics of the good language learner

Rate of development varies widely among first language learners

1.         Is a willing and accurate guesser; guessing and inferencing is a strategy learners use to figure out what the speaker means by using all the available and relevant, verbal and non-verbal contextual

2.         Tries to get a message across even if specific language knowledge is lacking; it’s about a learner’s managing communication without worrying about not enough knowledge to express his message

3.         Is willing to make mistakes; it’s about risk-taking

4.         Constantly looks for patterns in the language

5.         Practices as often as possible

6.         Analyses his own speech and the speech of others

7.         Attends to whether his performance meets the standards he’s learned

8.         Enjoys grammar exercises

9.         Begins learning in childhood

10.       Has an above-average IQ.

11.       Has good academic skills

12.       Has a good self-image and lots of confidence

Good academic skills are used to refer to success in subjects other than learning language. All of the characteristics listed above can be classified into 5 categories; motivation, aptitude, personality, intelligence and learner preference.

Research on Learner Characteristics

Researchers select a group of learners and give them a questionnaire to measure the type and degree of their motivation. The learners are then given a test to measure their second language proficiency. The test and questionnaire are both scored and the researcher performs a correlation on the two measures. The first problem is that it’s not possible to directly observe and measure qualities such as motivation, extroversion or even intelligence.

Learners are often asked whether they willingly seek out opportunities to use their second language with native speakers and how often they do this. It is problematic, because learner has more opportunities for language practice in informal contexts. Another factor which makes it difficult is that how language proficiency is defined and measured. The language proficiency tests used in different studies don’t measure the same kind of knowledge.

Intelligence 

It refers to performance on certain kinds of tests. Many studies have found that IQ. Scores were a good means of predicting how successful a learner would be. While intelligence, as measured by verbal IQ. Tests, may be a strong factor (language analysis and rule learning), it may play a less important role in classrooms where the instruction focuses more on communication and interaction.

Aptitude

Learning quickly is the distinguishing feature of aptitude. Modern Language Aptitude Test (MLAT), Pimsleur Language Aptitude Battery (PLAB).

Components

1.         The ability to identify and memorize new sounds

2.         The ability to understand the function of particular words in sentences

3.         The ability to figure out grammatical rules from language samples

4.         Memory for new words.

Many teachers end researchers come to see aptitude as irrelevant to the process of language acquisition. Successful language learners may not be strong in all of the components of aptitude. One could determine learners’ profiles of strengths and weaknesses and use this information to place students in appropriate teaching programs.

Personality

It is often argued that an extroverted person is well suited to language learning. However research doesn’t always support this conclusion. Another aspect of personality is inhibition. This discourages risk-taking. Other personality characteristics are self-esteem, empathy, dominance, talkativeness and responsiveness. The major difficulty in investigating personality characteristics is that of identification and measurement. Personality variables may be a major factor only in the acquisition of conversational skills, not in the acquisition of literacy skills. Many researchers believe that personality will be shown to have an important influence on success in language learning.

Motivation and Attitudes

The question is, are learners more highly motivated because they’re successful, or are they successful because they’re highly motivated. Motivation can be defined in terms of two factors; learners’ communicative needs and their attitudes towards the second language community. Integrative motivation: it refers to language learning for personal growth and cultural enrichment, instrumental motivation: it refers to language learning for more immediate or practical goals. One factor is the social dynamic or power relationship between the languages. Members of a minority group learning the language of a majority group may have different attitudes and motivation from those of majority group members learning a minority language.

Motivation in the Classroom Setting

If we can make our classrooms places where students enjoy coming because the content is interesting and relevant to their age and level of ability, where the learning goals are challenging yet manageable and clear, and where the atmosphere is supportive and non-threatening, we can make a positive contribution to students’ motivation to learn.

- Graham Crooks and Richard Schmidt point several areas;

- Motivating students into the lesson,

- Varying the activities, tasks and materials,

- Using co-operative rather than competitive goals

Clearly, cultural and age differences will determine the most appropriate way for teachers to motivate students

Learner Preferences

The term ‘learning style’ has been used to describe an individual’s natural, habitual and preferred way of absorbing, processing and retaining new information and skills. Visual learners, aural learners, kinaesthetic learners. Distinction between field independent and field dependent. This refers to whether an individual tends to separate details from the general background or to see things more holistically. Another category is based on the individual’s temperament or personality.

Learner Beliefs

These beliefs are usually based on previous learning experiences and the assumption (right or wrong) that a particular type of instruction is the best way for them to learn. The available research indicates that learner beliefs can be strong mediating factors in their experience in the classroom.

Age of Acquisition

CPH. suggests that there is a time in human development when the brain is predisposed for success in language learning.  As discussed in chapter 1 development changes in the brain ,it is argued ,affect the nature of language acquisition.According to this view,language learning which occurs after the end of the critical period may not be based on the innate biological structures believed to contribute to first language acqusition or second language acquisition  in early chilhood.The difference between adult and young learners is that there is a critical period for second language acquisition. In addition to the possible biological differences, the conditions for language learning are often very different. Younger learners have more opportunities to hear and use the language in environments where they don’t experience strong pressure. Adults are often embarrassed by their lack mastery of the language.

Mastery of the Spoken Language

Mark Patkovsky studied the effect of age on the acquisition of features of a second language other than accent.He hypothesized that,even if accent were ignored,only those who had begun learning their second language before the age of 15 could ever achieve full,native-like mastery of that language.Patkovsky examined the spoken English of 67 highly educated immigrants to the U.S. The main question in Patkovsky’s research was ‘Will there be a difference between learners who began to learn Eng. before puberty and those who began learning Eng. later?’ The findings were quite dramatic. 32 out of 33 subjects who had begun learning Eng. before the age of 15 scored at the 4+ or the 5 level. Patkovsky’s first question was answered with a very resounding yes. These results gave added support to the CPH for second language acquisition. Experience and research have shown that native-like mastery of the spoken language is difficult to attain by older learners.

Comparing child, adolescent and adult language learners

In the Snow and Hoefnagel-Höhle study, the adolescents were by far the most successful learners.They were ahead of everyone on aall but one of the tests(pronunciation)on the first test session. By the end of the year the children were catching up and had surpassed adults. Snow and Hoefnagel-Höhle concluded that their results provide evidence that there is no critical period for language acquisition.

Arguments against them;S

1.         Some of the tasks were too hard for young learners

2.         Adults and adolescents may learn faster in the early stages of second language development. Young children eventually catch up and even surpass them.

3.         Adults and adolescents can make use of the language on a daily basis in social, personal, professional or academic interaction.

At what age should second language instruction begin?

Both experience and research show that older learners can attain high, if not ‘native ‘,levels of proficiency in their second language. For every researcher who holds that there are maturational constraints on language acquisition, there is another who considers that the age factor can’t be separated from factors such as motivation, social identity and conditions for learning. It’s usually desirable for the learner to be completely surrounded by the lang. as early as possible to have native-like mastery. When the goal is basic communicative ability for all students in a school setting, and when it is assumed that the child’s native language will remain the primary language, it may be more efficient to begin second or foreign language teaching later.

 Factors Which Affect Language Learning and Language Learning Process

This paper aims at emphasizing the importance of factors which affect language learning and language learning process. It summarizes the introduction of language learning, explain the factor which affect language learning process. And it also takes into account the teacher’s role in language learning process.

Introduction

There are many reasons to learn English as a foreign language, from working in another country to discovering your roots, through intellectual curiosity, romance, travel, and secret communication. Now, you start thinking about how you’re going to study it. Finding time to study a language can be quite a challenge. You may think that you don’t really have enough of it, but it’s surprising how many spare moments you have during a typical day, and how they can add up to a useful amount of study time. After all, you will think about the materials and tools do you need to study a language. In parallel to this new shift of interest, what factor which affect language learning process,  and the teacher’s role in language learning process.

Factor Which Affect Language Learning Process

There are many factors that affect the language learning process, in here we will classify in two factor. That is internal factors and external factors.

&   Internal Factors

In this case we will talk about physical, psychology, and exhaustion.

1)     Physical

a)     Healthy

Learning process can goes well with good healthy. Healthy is someone in good condition. If someone want to learn well, he/she must try to keep his body in good condition such as, can share his time to get rest, eat, relaxation, pray, and sport.

b)     Physical Defect

Someone in physical defect must try harder then others. For them, they can choose a special school with special rolls.

c)      Gender

Females reported greater overall strategy use than males in many studies (although sometimes males surpassed females in the use of a particular strategy).

2)     Psychology

a)    Intelligence

The ability to meet and adapt to novel situations quickly and effectively.

The ability to utilize abstract concepts effectively.

The ability to grasp relationship and to learn quickly.

The great intelligence give more progress to the learning process.

b)     Attention

Attention is concentration (mental focus, serious consideration). To get the good mark in the subject, the student must pay attention at the lesson, if he/she bored he probably will fail in that lesson.

c)     Interest

Interest is persisting tendency to pay attention to and enjoy some activity or content. If the lesson doesn’t interesting to the student, the student can’t learn well.

d)    Aptitude

Aptitude is the capacity to learn. Everyone have different aptitude. So, its time for us to use that aptitude maximally for our best. The good way is to use the aptitude by study and practice as much as we can do.

e)     Motive

Motive is an effective-conative factor which operates in determining the direction of an individual’s behavior to words an end or goal, consiously apprehended or unconsioustly. The teacher must have good motive to get attention from the students. More motivated students tended to use more strategies than less motivated students, and the particular reason for studying the language (motivational orientation, especially as related to career field) was important in the choice of strategies.

3)     Exhaustion

Exhaustion can happen in physic and psychology. Psychology exhaustion’s  can be seen like bored, or loose motivation, etc. In Physic’s like restless, lost of energy, etc. All of that can give bad impact to the student. Psychological and Physical exhaustion can make disappear by sleep, get some rest, give the variation in study, relaxation, pray, get some sport or call the psychiatry.

&   External Factors

In external factors can be difference into three groups, like : family factor, school factor and social factor.

1) Family factors

a)     The way of parent’s educate

The way that parent’s educate give the big influence to their children. Because family is the first and prominent educator.

b)     Relations between each family

Relations between each family means relations between parent and their children, children with their brother and sister, etc. If in that family have harmonious relations will created a success students.

c)      The House’s Atmosphere

The best atmosphere is quite and peaceful. In that situations children will stand at home, also make children study well at home.

d)     Family’s Economic

Children must get the basic requirements such as foods, clothes, books, chair, table and many other things. All of that requirement can get if his/her family have enough money.

e)     Parent’s Understanding

Sometimes their children lost of interest in their subject, in that moment the parent must give them support.

f)        Cultural Background

Rote memorization and other forms of memorization were more prevalent among some Asian students than among students from other cultural backgrounds. Certain other cultures also appeared to encourage this strategy among learners.

2) School Factors

a)     Teaching Method

Teachers must have training relevant to their own instructional situations in three areas: identifying students’ current learning strategies through surveys, interviews, or other means; helping individual students discern which strategies are most relevant to their learning styles, tasks, and goals; and aiding students in developing orchestrated strategy use rather than a scattered approach.

b)    Curriculum

Students of different ages and stages of language learning used different strategies, with certain strategies often being employed by older or more advanced students.

c)     Learning Style

Learning style (general approach to language learning) often determined the choice of English learning strategies. For example, analytic-style students preferred strategies such as contrastive analysis, rule-learning, and dissecting words and phrases, while global students used strategies to find meaning (guessing, scanning, predicting) and to converse without knowing all the words (paraphrasing, gesturing).

d)     The Relations between Students and Teacher

Teaching learning process happened between teacher and students. The teacher must cooperative in his/her class.

Building upon a foundation of integrity, teaching as an ethical profession requires the interaction of six essential behaviors:

Caring

Setting high standards

Providing intellectually challenging learning experiences

Organizing and managing classes to facilitate learning

Student centered

Reflecting

 e)     The Relations between Each Student

Create good relations between each other is necessary because it can give positive influence to their study.

f)     Discipline

Discipline at school not only for the teacher and the students, but also for every bodies in that area. All of person at school must obeyed the rule. If nobody never break the rules the situation will always under control.

g)     Schedule

Good management in time will give positive impact for teaching-learning process.

h)     The School’s Building

The size of school is equals with the students.

i)       Type of Task

The nature of the task helped determine the strategies naturally employed to carry out the task.

j)      Attitudes and Beliefs

These were reported to have a profound effect on the strategies learners choose, with negative attitudes and beliefs often causing poor strategy use or lack of orchestration of strategies.

k)     Tolerance of Ambiguity

Students who were more tolerant of ambiguity used significantly different learning strategies in some instances than did students who were less tolerant of ambiguity.

3) Social Factor

a)      Students Activity in Their Society

We need to limit their society, so that didn’t disturb their study. We can choose the activity that increase their study, like course, group discussion, etc.

b)      Mass Media

The example of mass media are movie theater, radio, television, newspaper, magazine, etc. We need to give wise guidance and control from parents and educators, in family, school and society.

c)     Companionship

Influences from friends will more faster come in their mind. The students make relation with the good friends. It will give him positive impact better than negative ones.

d)      Social Interaction

Social interaction also give the impact to their study. Many kinds of people around them. They need to choose the right one.

The Teacher’s Role in Language Learning Process

I think that school is a place where one goes to learn but I also believe that there should be times where fun is a necessity. That is why I think that a teacher should also have fun with the students. Kids learn faster when they feel attracted to an exciting lesson. Teachers must not forget that kids get born fast that is why creative lessons must be plane ahead.

The teacher must create a warm and protective environment but at the same time professional. If students feel secure in the classroom the result will be shown in the academic progress. A good star could be a mutual trust with each student. Teaches have the responsibility to know his/her students in the classroom. Each day, the teachers show one of their attitudes that the students are unaware. Also, the students do the same in order for the teacher to get to know them, too. This is a good exercise to do because it benefits the whole class to break the ice. The first days most of the students are afraid of the teacher because they do not know how is the teacher’s personality. It will change until the point that the teacher and students discover to have common hobbies with each other.

The teacher needs to show respect toward the students so the students also respect the teacher. Teacher must not forget the s/he teaches to different students who brings different students who brings different traditions and customs because the students come from different backgrounds. “One of the keys that is useful for teachers is to understand and accept the way students are acting.”

The following is a list of suggested activities which when presented may facilitate development during the student/teaching experience.

Ä     Initial Activities :

1)      Handle classroom routines such as attendance, dismissal and perhaps lunch distribution.

2)      Assume teacher’s duties – conduct assembly, clubs and other co-curricular activities.

3)      Check students’ written work and keep necessary records, such as progress report, assignments and projects and mark them.

4)      Keep students’ in a healthy environment and thus keep them safe.

ü      Organizational Activities

Keep a notebook or idea file; include minute fill-in ideas such as games, songs, stories, sources of information and materials, ideas for learning centers, bulletin boards, etc.

Make direct observations of classroom activities.

Plan a design for a classroom.

Become responsible for the general appearance of the classroom. (Cleanliness, arrangement of charts, etc.).

Prepare bulletin boards.

Develop a repertoire of techniques for class management or handling individual behavior problems. (Punishment, Time out, etc.).

Create an individual behavior management.

 Conclusion

Factor Which Affect Language Learning Process, such as internal and external factors facilitate the learning of the target language by the language learner. All language learners, needless to say, fulfill factors which affect language learning process.  Since the factors like physical, psychology,  exhaustion, family factors, school factors, social factor, etc. Affect the way in which language learners learn the target language, it is reasonable to support all language learners must fulfill all that factors to become successful learners. Another is successful learning centers require good classroom management and well known rules and procedures. A productive learning environment will take time to implement. The teacher may have to call the whole class together regularly in the beginning to ensure that all rules and expectations are being adhered to. Remember, think big but start small. Introduce a couple of centers per week. Finally, one of the most important thinks is never an individual endeavor, and neither is teaching. Although teachers can feel quite isolated into their classroom, it is important to remember that openness, collaboration an sharing are the keys to enrich your teaching and your students’ learning. It is I call the Teaching English for Foreign Language Community Triangle: